Portland Darlington Nagbe and the Timbers will face Kansas City in a preseason game Friday in Tucson, Arizona. AP Photo/The Kansas City Star, Andy Lundberg)
The Associated Press

The Portland Timbers are happy about winning their first preseason game, but they are keeping everything in perspective.

Portland coach Caleb Porter saw plenty of positives in the Timbers' 3-1 win against Colorado on Tuesday morning, but he said the more important result from the game is that he and the players now have a performance to measure and compare themselves.

"We got a result, but in the end, it's more about progress. It's more about evolving and getting our culture right -- showing we have the right mentality," Porter said. "It's about us as a staff evaluating the players and the systems that we're playing. That will determine our training and determine some of the moves that we will make for the next game."

The assessments and evaluations will continue when the Timbers face Kansas City today at the Kino Sports Complex in the second of four scheduled games during the Timbers' 12-day stay in Arizona that began Sunday.

Porter used two completely different squads in each half of Tuesday's game and said that he could continue to tinker with the lineup and style of play against Kansas City.

"We may go into this next game and try something different because maybe we saw some good things in the last game, but we also want to see if there is a better combination or system," Porter said. "We want to have peace of mind by experimenting. You have to sacrifice some things to make or take risks and evolve as a team and experiment with your lineup."

What Porter hopes to see in today's game is a continuation of the players' attitude from the last game.

"We came out with a bit of an edge and swagger. A confidence. Which all winning teams must have," Porter said. "We want to be proactive. We want to apply pressure on defense and attack on offense. I thought we did that, especially early in the game."

That swagger and desire to impose a will on the game could be more difficult to accomplish against Kansas City. Colorado, which finished in seventh place (three points ahead of Portland) in 2012, is in the middle of a transition and roster upheaval. Kansas City won the Eastern Conference title in 2012 and is considered one of the more physical squads in MLS.

This game -- and the upcoming matchup against archrival Seattle on Tuesday -- will provide a much better read and evaluation of the Timbers' preseason performances.

The first-year coach said he was particularly happy with his team's passing and movement without the ball against Colorado. Those two factors are critical if the Timbers hope to make Porter's possession-oriented style of play a success.

Porter said he saw a little chemistry develop between Ryan Johnson, Darlington Nagbe and Diego Valeri. That is a positive sign, since those three likely will be in the starting 11 when the Timbers open the regular season March 3 against New York.

"I thought there was a lot of interplay between Valeri, Nagbe and Ryan Johnson," Porter said. "There were some really nice combinations between those three. Those three guys were a handful and created some problems for Colorado."

Porter has said he and his staff are still evaluating players for certain positions, and second-year forward Jose Valencia may have something to say about who will receive minutes. The young Colombian played very well against Colorado, scoring a goal and adding an assist in the second half. The question for Valencia is whether he can produce consistent performances after missing nearly the entire 2012 season after surgery and rehabilitation on his knee.

The Timbers defense played well against the Rapids before conceding a late-game goal. The defensive breakdown occurred in a preseason game, but it may have been a little too reminiscent of games during the Timbers' past two seasons for Will Johnson, who came to the Timbers in a trade with Real Salt Lake in December.

"I think we got beat on a couple of long balls too many where we didn't have pressure on the ball and guys were able to pick their heads up and make penetrating passes against us," Johnson said. "We've got to improve in that area if we're going to have a successful season."

Notes: Portland left back Michael Harrington was a member of Kansas City for six seasons years before he was traded to Portland in December. …Kansas City forward Kei Kamara has signed a deal for a four-month tryout with Norwich City of the English Premier League.